Celebrating 31 years of the
Young Writers Contest
which honors
~A New Generation of California Writers~
Scroll Down For:
1. NEW Contest RULES
2. Submission Button
3. Important Dates
ABOUT THE CONTEST
Mt. Diablo’s Young Writers Contest is for 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students who live or attend school in Contra Costa County. The contest has been held every year since 1995, starting with two categories and reaching just one school district. It has grown to encompass all of Contra Costa County and now provides THREE categories: Poetry, Short Story, and Personal Narrative.
The Judging Process:
Each piece of writing entered in the Young Writers Contest is read and scored by at least two
Jurors who are Membere of the California Writers Club Mt. Diablo Branch. Works are awarded based on the average score from each Juror. Freedom of expression is a core value of the Awards. Teens are free to write about any topic and are invited to express themselves authentically! Works are judged based only on the merits of the writing.
CONSENT TO COLLECT AND USE PERSONAL DATA OF MINORS
Parents: We will collect the following information from your child:
Student’s first and last name, mailing address, parent’s email address, school attending, teacher’s name, teacher’s email.
This information is collected directly when your child fills out and submits an entry form to our contest. We use the information to track contest submissions and notify contest winners, their parents, and teachers. We also use the information to respond to questions, invite winners to our Awards Ceremony, and create awards certificates. If your child is a winner, we will contact you for further permissions.
If you do not consent, or if you have questions, email us at youngwriters@cwcmtdiablo.org
AWARDS
Awards are given in each category/grade, for a total of 27 winners. Prizes are awarded at a ceremony on May 16th, 2026, from 12:45-2:30 PM. Winners will be notified by emailed and a consent form will be requested for winners to submit and accept their award.
Cash Awards:
First-place winners receive $100
Second-place winners receive $50
Third-place winners receive $25
RULES FOR SUBMISSIONS
PLEASE follow these rules for your story or poem. Incorrect submissions will be rejected.
- THE USE OF AI/ChatGPT SOFTWARE/PLATFORMS IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED: All entries must be the original work of the student. By submitting your entry, you are certifying that your writing is not only an original work written by you, but also that it was written without the assistance of any AI software/platform. Entries that violate these terms will automatically be disqualified.
- The THREE categories are: Poetry, Short Story, and Personal Narrative.
- We no longer have a Humor category but feel free to submit a funny poem, short story, or personal narrative.
- We do not suggest or assign topics. Students must choose their own topic.
- Entries must be in English.
- Submissions must be copied into our Web Form. No attachments will be accepted.
- Personal Information (name, address, etc.) must NOT appear in the story itself and Personal Information must also NOT be included in any part of what is copied and pasted into the Web Form.
- A maximum of one (1) entry per category is welcome under separate submissions, i.e. you cannot submit more than 1 Poem, 1 Short Story, or 1 Personal Narrative (3 total). Any submissions that exceed the number of allowable submissions will automatically be rejected and not considered in the contest.
- SCHOOL Email addresses will not be accepted due to their strict firewall which prevents notifications. All entries must include your PARENT’S email address for submission.
WORD OR PAGE LIMITS PER CATEGORY
Word limits (and line limits for Poetry) will be strictly enforced. Don’t go over the limit!
- PERSONAL NARRATIVE: An essay about a personal experience in the author’s life, written in the first person. Up to 1,000 words.
- SHORT STORY: Fiction, any genre. Up to 1,500 words.
- POETRY: Any form. Up to 30 lines.
IMPORTANT: If you are submitting something as part of a classroom assignment, please include a UNIQUE TITLE* when you submit your piece. Do not use the general title of the classroom assignment. It is confusing if we receive several submissions with the same title.
TEACHERS: Please avoid having your class submit entries all at once. Many of these end up in spam or junk folders.
2026 DATES YOU SHOULD KNOW
January 1 – Submission Period Opens
February 28 – Submission Period Closes
March 8-21 – Judging Period
March 22-28 – Winners Notified by Email
May 16 – Awards Ceremony
BEFORE YOU SUBMIT: READ THIS!
Click each button for information
Here is an example of what young writers can do:
Run spell check on your manuscript
Spell and grammar checks won’t catch everything, and sometimes what it suggests conflicts with what you are trying to say. But running these checks can catch many of the errors that happen when our thoughts run faster than our fingers on the keyboard.
Get feedback from other writers
Sure, Mom, Dad, and your favorite aunt will all read your manuscript. But relatives (and close friends) are problematic: they don’t want to hurt your feelings. If all they have is praise, you know you aren’t getting good feedback.
Find someone who understands writing and will give you constructive and kind criticism. Look for an older student, especially someone who gets A’s on writing assignments, or has won contests or been published in the school newsletter or yearbook. Or join a writing club or critique group that helps young writers.
Read your piece out loud to yourself. Fix anything that does not sound right
When we read silently, we “hear” the words in our minds. But when it’s our own writing, we become too familiar with what “should” be on the page and may not realize that we didn’t get our idea across. Reading out loud helps you hear the words as your readers will hear them. You will catch those awkward sentences or stumbling dialogue, and have a good idea of what’s needed to make it sound right.
The 2025 Submission Period is now CLOSED. Thank you for your interest.
There is ONE form for each submission. Do NOTsubmit more than one work per form. Make sure you select the correct Category and Grade for your submission!
SCHOOL Email addresses will not be accepted due to their strict firewall which prevents notifications. All entries must include your PARENT’S email address for submission.
If submitting more than one entry (only one per category permitted, max of three entries), you will receive a confirmation for each individual submission.
OTHER INFORMATION
We do not share personal data with anyone without specific permission.
PARENTS:
Parents of winning students will be requested to give permission for the child to be photographed for print, videotaped, or electronically imaged during the awards ceremony and agree to allow his or her child’s picture to appear in newspapers, news releases, and/or other published formats.
DEADLINE: Submissions must be received by 11:59 p.m. on February 28, 2026. Winners will be notified via email by March 22-28, 2026. Non-winners will not be notified.
TEACHERS: We love it when you use our contest as an assignment or for extra credit. If you assign a specific topic, please ask your students to give their piece a unique title. IMPORTANT: Please do not have your students submit entries at the same time (as a class). This sends everything to the spam folder and we might miss them!
PRIZES: Winning short stories, personal narratives and poems from each grade level will receive $100 for first prize, $50 for second prize and $25 for third prize. Prizes will be presented to winners in May 2026. Further information on the awards ceremony will be provided to the winners. Parents and teachers of winning students are welcome.
Have more questions? Ask us below, or email us at youngwriters@cwcmtdiablo.org.
*NOTE* If you are a student sending us an email, be aware that your school district’s email policy may keep our answer from reaching you. It would be best to provide an alternate email address in your message in case this happens.
Presenting: The Winners of the 2025 Young Writers Contest
Where else can you submit your writing?
Donate to the Young Writers Contest
*NOTE: When you click on the Donate Button, you will see a dropdown menu with two choices for donations: Young Writers Contest or Writers Helping Writers. Please choose the Young Writers Contest. This will help us direct your donation to the correct account.
Your tax-deductible charitable donations to our 501(c)3 will help our contest participants. You may also donate by sending checks to CWC-Mt. Diablo at this address: Young Writers Contest P.O. Box 606 Alamo, CA 94507
